Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



WHITNEY, GERNER &' TIESING.

Breech-Loading Fire-Arm Patented July 27, 1869.

Wmzw'ses,

f ,f @QM/QJ dini-ted pte-tre Y stent @wie ELI WHITNEY, G. GERNER, AND F. TIESING, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT; SAID v GERNER AND TIESING, ASSIGNORS TO ELI WHITNEY.

11mm PamfNa. 93,149, dazed July 27, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING- FIRE-ARMS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To ali whom it may concern Be it known that we, ELI WHITNEY, C. GERNER, and F. lTrnslne, of New Haven, in the county-of Newv Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brecon-Loading Guns; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, like letters indicating like parts,- wherever they occur.'

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use our invention we will proceed to describe it.

Our invention relates to breech-loading guns; and

The invention consists in a novel manner of operating the reti-actor that ejects the shells, as hereinafter explained.

Figure I is a longitudinal vertical section of a portion of a gun containing our improvement, and l Figure 2 is a similar view representing the same in a modified form. l

In the construction of breech-loading arms, it is necessary to provide some means of getting the shells out of the barrels after the ghn has been iiredLand it is desirable thatthis should be accomplished inthe act of tipping the barrels, this invention being specially adapted to that class of guns in which the barrels are hinged so as to tip up at the breech.

A represents that part of the frame that contains the/locks, and

C represents an arm protruding from the front and lower portion of the breech; the barrels B being hinged to the front end of this arm C at a.

The retractor l has a ste1n,vc, fitted so as to slide in a hole made longitudinally in the lib or piece iitted to the under side of the barrels, and having a spiral spring, e, on it near its front end, which serves to draw the retractor l close against the ends of the barrelsvat all times except when shoved back to eject the shells.

A spring, n, is secured in a recess on the upper face of the arms O, directly over the joint, as shown in tig. I; this spring having on its upper face a projection or hook, t', which engages in a notch in the under side of the stem c, the spring n having also a projecting end, 71., as shown in fig. l.

IVhen thus arranged, it will be seen that when the barrels are tipped up, as represented in blue lines in fig. l, the hook i engaging with the notch of the stem' c, will force the retractor out, until the barrels have tipped so far that the stem c strikes against the projccting end h of the spring n, thus forcing the hook t' out of the notch, thereh7 releasing the stem c, when the spring e will carry the retractor home to its place. As the barrels are brought down to close the breech again, the hook fi engages again in the notch, ready to operate the retractor again as soon as the barrels are tipped up; and the retractor is made to operate automatically and continuously at each movement of the barrels. 4

In g. 2 we have represented the same idea, somewhat modified in its application.

In this case we have represented a pin, d, itted loosely in a hole in the front end of the arm C, this pin being held up by a spring, j, secured to its under side, as shown.

The pin d, in this case, takes the place of the hook l.in the other case; its upper en dengagin'g in the notch in the retractor-stem, and operating it in the same manner.

As soon as the barrels are tipped far enough to cause the shoulder of the notch in stem c to stand at a'sufiicient inclination, the pin d is forced down by the in-lA clined face ofthe notch, the spring f yielding and per mitting the piu to descend slightly, and thus the pin is disengaged from its hold on the stem c, and the retractor is brought home by the spiral springe, the same as in the other case.

The barrels are secured to the arm C at the rear lby a lug, I, which fits'into` a hole or recess in the'arm C, and is locked there by a slidin g bolt, E, which is forced forward by a spiral spring, o,and is withdrawn bya linger-piece or trigger,` F, as shown in the drawings.

By pulling back the lock-bolt E, the barrels are released; aud being so'hiuged that the portion towards the muzzle overbalances the portion in rear of the hinge, it follows that their rear end is thrown up by the weight of the front end, and thereby at the samev time operates the reti-actor, as hereinbefore explained.

Having thus described our invention,

1. The retractor-rod c,^iu combination with the spring fn, provided with the hook t', or its equivalent, arranged to operate as described, whereby the retractor is operated by tipping the barrels, and returned to its place automatically, substantially as hereindescribed.

2. AThe arrangement ofthe barrelsB, with the re tractor vapplied andoperated as described, and the lockbolt E, all as herein set forth.

' E. WHITNEY.

C. GERNER. Witnesses: F. TIESING.

W. C. DODGE, L. Hernan. 

